H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) Hits New 12-Month High at $56.82

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE:HRB) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $56.82 and last traded at $56.82, with a volume of 32519 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $55.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on HRB. Barrington Research boosted their price target on H&R Block from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. StockNews.com raised H&R Block from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th.

H&R Block Trading Down 1.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.68. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.51.

H&R Block (NYSE:HRB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $4.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.66 by $0.28. H&R Block had a net margin of 17.87% and a negative return on equity of 224.81%. The company had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that H&R Block, Inc. will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

H&R Block Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 3rd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 5th were paid a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 5th. H&R Block’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.29%.

Insider Activity at H&R Block

In other H&R Block news, CEO Jeffrey J. Jones II sold 44,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.55, for a total value of $2,453,386.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 712,386 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,860,656.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On H&R Block

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of H&R Block during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in H&R Block during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in H&R Block by 4,152.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in H&R Block in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new position in H&R Block in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors own 90.14% of the company’s stock.

H&R Block Company Profile

H&R Block, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides assisted income tax return preparation and do-it-yourself (DIY) tax return preparation services and products to the general public primarily in the United States, Canada, and Australia. It offers assisted income tax return preparation and related services through a system of retail offices operated directly by the company or its franchisees.